Archive for October, 2008

Good Work, Christian Science Monitor

I read this piece two days ago with news-industry glee. Yes, glee:

Christian Science Paper to End Daily Print Edition, NY Times

The CSM is taking the bold step that all newspapers are going to have to take in the next 15-20 years or so: moving solely to the web. They’re an ideal first mover because of their non-profit business model, and thus aren’t losing the big percentages of revenue that metro print papers would drop if they moved today. If you support journalism, it’s time to cheer a paper that’s able to cut the biggest cost of a paper — printing — to keep putting out a solid product.

A Great Summation

Wassup 2008:

A bit corny at the end — even for an Obama supporter like me — but a sadly humorous reminder of why so much of the country thinks we’re heading in the wrong direction.

MTV: Suddenly Great Again

MTV has been essentially a total negative in cultural energy for the past ten years, but then they go ahead and launch this site and totally redeem themselves:

MTV Music Beta

When they say beta, I really hope this one sticks around, because the site counts more than 21,000 videos dating back to Jimi Hendrix clips and plenty of other goodies: Metallica, Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash. I was happy to see Talking Heads as one of the most-viewed vids, so maybe there’s hope for MTV after all.

The intellectual property rights issues on this must be hella complicated, but this is more than worth it. I no longer hate you, MTV! (And thanks, Mark, for pointing this one out.)

You Said It, Jeremy Long

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/us/politics/27pennsylvania.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

The Palin fires, however, show signs of banking. Over at Sheffield Lanes, mention of her name summons no glint from older bowlers, or from Jeremy and Joe Long, in their 20s, tipping Buds. They liked Mrs. Clinton but pass on Ms. Palin.

“She’s always talking about the ‘Average Joe,’” Jeremy Long said. “Average me! I don’t want myself in the Oval Office. I want someone smarter.”

Never was a truer word spoken. Give me a Rhodes Scholar, war-hero, economic-policy-expert candidate over some beer-swilling jagoff anyday. After the past eight years, we’ve had enough of the latter to last another 275 years. (I hope.)

Online Ad Revenue Drops, But Fear Not

This slightly alarmist but still insightful piece from the New York Times noted last quarter’s decline in overall ad revenue for newspaper websites. The headline “Web Revenue is Stalling” makes it sound as if the online news industry is doomed and will never recover, but that headline could just as easily have been written “As Usual, Advertising Slips In Bad Economy”. I imagine all media will see a decline in growth or outright shrinkage in ad revenue until the economic pendulum swings back the other way, so introducing the story in the “We’re all gonna be out of a job” way is a good attention-grabber but not very accurate.

I did enjoy the part of the piece that went into detail on ad networks, particularly when Steve Stup from WPNI was quoted. I think networks are a positive thing for the present online conditions, though I do appreciate the commoditization argument and how that represents a potential danger. But with online display advertising still in its infancy — no shop right now is seeing online creativity the level of which goes into TV or print — this is a good way to go in enticing old advertisers into the new market. As advertisers become more familiar with the online audience and get a grasp of where their ad dollars will be most effective, then that represents a chance for publications to break away from networks and distinguish themselves as an independent inventory opportunity.

Damn, can anybody tell I just got done writing a corporate strategy paper this morning? The MBA curriculum is crowding my brain.

Gotta Agree

Unquestionably yes, indeed.

But Can He Win the Rust Belt?

This New Yorker article sent to me by The Wife is a really interesting look at the parts of Ohio that would seem like Obama country, but are still a bit shaky:

The Hardest Vote

It’d be nice to write off racial prejudice as no longer an issue, but the big fact is that it still is, particularly in lots of the areas that are going to decide the election. I only hope racism doesn’t get in the way of economic self-interest.

Also, I thought McCain did slightly — slightly — better than Obama last night, even though the whole thing was tremendously boring. Reading the reactions this morning I seem to be alone in this view, but then that’s a good thing. Plus, even if it’s a tie, it automatically goes to That One thanks to the current momentum. (That is not a nice way to refer to someone when they’re sitting right there, btw.)

Of Bacon, and the Ocean Equivalent of Bacon

My friend Bill sent me a link to BaconToday.com, which I now know as the Internet’s finest source of bacon information. (Seriously, that is a professional-looking site, particularly for one devoted solely to bacon. Nice job by 500 Yards Media, whoever they are.) The specific link he sent was this page on bacon cinnamon rolls, which is perhaps the greatest food idea I’ve come across in the past ten years. I remain forever grateful to Bacon Today.

Also, now that I’m living on my own in Ann Arbor, I can once again eat kipper snacks. These are some of the foulest-smelling foods ever put in a can, and as such The Wife is quite vocal in her desire that I not eat them in the house. But man, are they good. Once you fork off the slimy herring skin, the smoke flavor really does render them the bacon of the sea.

Weird Northern European foods: a staple of goodness.